


Sentimentality

by Littleshebear



Category: Destiny (Video Games)
Genre: Amanda's refusal to just call alien races what they are, Canon Related, F/F, In Game Dialogue, The Red War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-19
Updated: 2019-06-19
Packaged: 2020-05-14 21:03:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 785
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19281151
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Littleshebear/pseuds/Littleshebear
Summary: Sloane's fear for Amanda's safety threatens to get the better of her when Zavala sends her into combat.





	Sentimentality

“Guardian? Can you make it to the centre of the Arcology? We should be able to send someone to pick you up from there.”

Sloane’s gaze immediately flicks across to Amanda at the Commander’s words. She doesn’t fail to miss the droop in the shipwright’s shoulders even as she rises from her station in their make-shift command centre. Amanda is already making a bee-line for the exit when Zavala speaks again.

“Holliday?”

“Yeah,” Amanda nods her assent but given the reticence in her voice, Sloane thinks she may as well be screaming ‘no’. “Yeah, I’m on it.” Amanda takes a deep breath, followed by a slow exhale while her hands reflexively clench and unclench as she leaves.

Sloane holds her own hands behind her back and takes a few agonisingly long seconds to decide what to do next. Titans do not waver. Titans hold the line. Titans do not allow themselves to be emotionally compromised. And yet.

She steels herself, fully expecting Zavala to refuse what she is about to request. There is no time for sentimentality in war, especially not during moments as crucial as these. She draws herself up to her full height and opens her mouth to speak.

“Go,” says the Commander cooly, before she can get a word out. “But be quick.”

She thinks perhaps she should thank him before leaving but he doesn’t shift his gaze from the tactical display before him. Be quick, he’d said, so she dashes out of the room. There will be time for gratitude later.

A voice in the back of her mind tells her that this is faintly ridiculous. She is an immortal warrior of light, the Deputy Commander no less, not some lovesick teenager but louder voice tells her she would regret it forever if she doesn’t say this now. When Sloane skids into the hangar, Amanda is already climbing into the cockpit.

“I’m strapping in and about to take off. I’ll be there ASAP.” She pauses, her seatbelt in her hand, shooting Sloane a quizzical look as the titan dashes across the floor, before bounding up the ladder beside the cockpit. “What’re ya doin’?”

“Amanda,” Zavala interrupts over the comm before Sloane can answer.

“Sir?” Amanda responds, still staring at Sloane’s worried face.

“Fly fast. Fly safe.”

“Yes sir,” she answers before cocking her head at Sloane.

Sloane smiles sheepishly. “What he said.” Apparently, there is time for sentimentality in war.

“You two worry too much,” It took her shaking hands more than one attempt to clip her seatbelt in place. “Adrenaline,” she states when she notices Sloane’s frown deepen.

“I won’t lose you too. You come back safe, you hear?”

Amanda cups the back of Sloane’s head in her hand and pulls her up for a kiss. Their lips press together for a few passionate, indulgent seconds that they probably can’t afford to spend but they’re both past caring.

“I ain’t missing our dinner date on account of some worm-munchin’ beetle boys,” Amanda assures her. False bravado or not, Sloane nods, mollified and descends the ladder, albeit still with some reluctance.

When she returns to the command centre, Zavala briefly glances toward her before turning back to the tactical display. “DId you catch her?”

“Yes sir. Thank you, sir.” They both watch the progress of Amanda’s Hawk through the Arcology on the screen before Sloane speaks again. “I…I didn’t realise you knew.”

“I’ve been somewhat preoccupied of late, I’ll grant you, but I’m not blind.”

“And here was me thinking we were being discreet,” Sloane chuckles softly.

“You were but I have known you a long time and Amanda has been hanging off my mark since she was knee-high to a Dreg. I noticed the change in you both.”

Sloane falls silent, suddenly keenly aware of the quasi-parental relationship between her commanding officer and the object of her affections. “You don’t approve?” 

Zavala frowns in her direction. “You do not require my approval. I’m not her father.”

“You ever tell her that?”

Zavala gives the tiniest of lopsided smiles as he thinks back. “We had that conversation many a time when she was a child.”

“And did she get the memo?”

“I don’t believe she did.” Another wry smile. “If it’s my blessing you’re looking for, you don’t need it. But you have it. These are dark times, find comfort where you can.”

“It won’t interfere with our duties, I assure you.”

“Never crossed my mind, Sloane.” 

With that, the comm crackles to life. Sloane reacts with obvious relief when she hears Amanda’s voice while Zavala responds with a shallow, satisfied nod.

“Got one war hero and one Golden Age CPU coming in. Oh, and tell Sloane dinner’s still on.”


End file.
